A tiny hand brushes against the woman’s leg as she instinctively glances over her shoulder. In a flash, a slightly annoyed expression becomes a warm smile framed by freshly glossed lips.

Nadia Comaneci draws closer to the young admirer. She uses perfectly manicured nails to hold the girl’s sleeve in place while applying an autograph to a white t-shirt. The girl says nothing. All but trembling, she scurries away.

Twenty-five years after making gymnastics history, Nadia remains an icon, though she has a theory about what is actually happening when children approach for autographs. “Their mothers remember me,” she says.

If it’s Saturday, this must be Brisbane and the Goodwill Games. As half of the first couple of American gymnastics, Nadia’s life is mostly lived on the road and often finds her spending evenings in gymnastics arenas. Her spouse, 1984 Olympic champion Bart Conner, is here working in his familiar role as a commentator. He is part of TNT’s on-camera gymnastics team along with Kevin Harlan and three-time Olympian Dominique Dawes.

Nadia made a few appearances around town but is mostly a Goodwill Games observer. Perched along a row of old acquaintances who happen to be International Gymnastics Federation officials, she is quickly spotted. Chartreuse cashmere paired with a boldly striped designer handbag have a way of providing contrast in a sea of gray.

At 39, her glamorous presence also stands in dramatic contrast to the 14-year- old pixie of 1976. That’s the year Nadia won three gold medals and was awarded the first perfect score of 10 in Olympic gymnastics history. Nadia earned a total of seven 10s at those ’76 Games.

She defected from Romania to the U.S. in 1989, arriving at New York’s Kennedy Airport on a flight from Vienna with a mysterious companion whom she later described as more of a captor than friend.

Finding the courage to come to America without certainty of what would happen next is “part of my personality,” she says. “I’ve always known that nothing comes to you without sacrifice.”

Today, Nadia and Bart reside primarily in Norman, Oklahoma, where they operate a gymnastics academy and International Gymnast magazine. Corporate appearances and motivational speaking requests continue to keep them on the move, however. “Sometimes when I look up in the morning, I have to think where I am,” Nadia says.

After returning to the States next week, Nadia is headed for her native Romania, where she and Bart were wed in 1996, then on to Belgium and the Czech Republic. Though she once fled under cover of darkness, Nadia now gets back to Romania at least six times a year. She is exploring the creation of a cosmetic or fragrance product to be launched there.

What autograph-seeking mom wouldn’t enjoy a splash of “10”?

BROKEN BUT UNBEATEN: American Lindsay Benko continues her remarkable rebound from a fluke July injury in Japan at swimming’s world championships. Benko jumped into a warm-up pool, struck her knee on a ledge and broke the kneecap. She was forced to withdraw.

Fast forward to Saturday night at the Goodwill Games, where Benko won a 200- meter freestyle race for the second time in three days.

SUNDAY BEST: Day 5 of the Goodwill Games is expected to be a memorable one for fans of triathlon and beach volleyball.

The women’s triathlon provides a bizarre story line. American Siri Lindley did not make the U.S. Olympic team for the Sydney Games last year, but has since risen to No. 1 in the world on the strength of six victories, including the world championship.

Meanwhile, reigning Olympic triathlon champion Brigitte McMahon today ranks 45th in the world, having taken a break to give birth to her second child last May. This is her first major test in nearly 12 months. Adding to the plot, Lindley has been training in Switzerland with Australian Loretta Harrop, whose hometown is none other than Brisbane. Both the men’s and women’s triathlons air Tuesday during TNT’s primetime show (9-11 p.m. ET).

Over at the South Bank beach volleyball stadium, the undisputed fun-and-sun Goodwill Games venue is bracing for an Australia-USA match in the men’s bracket. It’s a quarterfinal with the U.S. team of Rob Heidger and Eric “The Body” Fonoimoana taking on Aussies Lee Zahner and Julien Prosser (TNT, Saturday, 11 p.m.-1 a.m. ET).

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